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This week we had a wonderful visit with Susan Macone and Anthony J. Rogers at Macone Farm in Concord! Macone Farms sells its fresh cut flowers, award-winning tomatoes and other vegetables like butternut squash exclusively to Russo’s.

Susan grew up on the farm but after college worked two full time jobs - as both a software engineer and a farmer. She retired from software engineering in 2005 and has focused on the farm ever since.

About five years ago, Susan started to grow cut flowers. Her colorful rows are full of zinnias, celosia, snapdragons and more.

“There is so much competition for farming tomatoes and vegetables, but not many people are doing cut flowers and I enjoy doing the cut flowers,” she said. “I do it because I enjoy it.”

Susan walked us through her rows of tomatoes, handing us one delicious variety after another. She has several varieties including chocolate tomatoes (which do taste like chocolate!), Sunpeach (which are delicious!) and her famous Sungold won Best in Massachusetts!

Tony Russo asked when the amazing tomatoes will arrive at Russo's. The answer is...today!

Macone Farm is not a certified organic but Susan said she does not spray anything on her 12-acre farm.

“To me, this is my backyard garden and you don’t spray where you live.” Plus, she added, “I’m the one picking and I don’t want spray where I pick.” She said she is okay with the fact that her seasons may run shorter than others because bugs or blight get her crops. It is safer that way, she explains. “If the bugs eat ‘em, that means you can eat ‘em,” she said.

At Russo's this week, we have locally grown tomatoes, eggplant and corn. See more of our specials here!

Thank you for subscribing to our Russo's Newsletter. Use this special subscribers code Russos1020 at the checkout for a discount of $5 off a purchase of $50 and $10 off a purchase of $100 now thru July 31 (Monday thru Friday only).

This week we introduce you to our love for local blueberries. Here at Russo’s, we have a special not-so-secret extra love for Kelso Homestead Farm blueberries which have just arrived at our store from Chester, Massachusetts!

"They pick them at the perfect time, every time, which is really hard to do in our business," said Tony Russo.

We wait all year for this perfect part of the summer when these special blues become available. Kelso Homestead Farm was established in 1779 by the family of Jim Gilman who is the 9th generation of his family to grow these blueberries. Russo's has a longstanding relationship with Kelso Homestead Farm and has been selling these blueberries for more than 40 years!

We recently spoke with one of Kelso Homestead's newest growers, 15-year-old Tommy Engwer, who works with his father Tom Engwer on the Kelso Homestead Farm. Tommy said the recent rain followed by warm days has been terrific for the blueberries this year.

“We have seven different varieties of blueberries at the farm,” said Engwer. “The sweet ones are very large and about the size of a half dollar. There are smaller ones if you want the more sour flavor.”

It is fortunate that Tommy works on a blueberry farm because “they are my favorite fruit!” he said.

Russo's has Kelso Homestead Blueberries available now and the farm is open for Pick-Your-Own blueberries.

Below is our latest Tony Tip on local blueberries, plus some photographs of Kelso Homestead Farm.

Also at Russo's this week, we have a special arrival of fig trees and a new Tony Tip all about them!

This week we wanted to introduce you to one of our favorite farms, The Buckle Farm in Unity, Maine. Owners Jim and Hannah are a very hard-working husband and wife team who grow beautiful organic products.

Here is our First Farmer Interview:

Russo’s: What is your favorite product to grow and why?

The Buckle Farm: We love to grow Snap and Shell Peas, Potatoes, Flowers, Tomatoes, Carrots, Garlic, Winter Squash and a wide variety of onions. These are our biggest plantings on the farm, we enjoy them because we all work hard on them together. Planting, harvest wash and pack require a full team to get them to market. Team spirit is high during the working of these crops and we can really see the fruits of our labor! Often they are the crops most enjoyed by our customers and that always makes it great.

Russo’s: What is the hardest part about farming in Maine? What are the hardest products to grow?

The Buckle Farm: The hardest part of farming in Maine is the lack of local markets for all the food being grown up here. We have one of the fastest growing populations of young and new farmers. While the land here is affordable and the support it very strong, it is still not enough to sustain all the farms in the state. The shorter season is a challenge, but there is so much research on season extension and seed varieties for Maine. This research has allowed small farms like ourselves to be more successful.

Russo’s: How does your work get separated out and who is in charge of what?

The Buckle Farm: The work is done by a team of 5. Hannah and Jim do all the planning and coordinating the business needs, Along with the harvesting, and managing the fields. We do less of the weeding and picking these days but still spend a good amount of time with our hands in the dirt. Frances, Ryan and Max are the field hands. They do most of the dirty work and almost anything on the farm. This winter we did three farm planning workshops with them to include everyone as much as possible. We do not put people in change of any one specific task and have a morning meeting everyday to list out the tasks and assign them to the crew as a group. We keep a rotation of jobs so no one feels too burdened by something they do not enjoy. This also keeps us all learning throughout the summer.

Russo’s: The Russo family members are huge animal lovers. How important is it for you to have a farm dog?

The Buckle Farm: Lemmy the farm dog is the real boss and we love having her here on the farm. She has a few specific jobs on the farm one of which is keeping the ground hog population down. Her natural instinct as a Blue Heeler is to heard and protect, so she spends a good amount of time with our pigs watching them and moving them up and down the fence lines. Lemmy loves our crew and greets them all as they come in the barn each morning and for lunch, we think she is trained to know they are eating in the morning and there are crumbs to grab! Her sweetness is the best, she can tell when you are having a bad day and makes you feel better. She like to chase a ball and would keep you for hours if you let her.

Russo’s: What makes you the most proud of your profession?

The Buckle Farm: It is honest work, work you can be proud of, people respect and is an important foundation to life. Delivering to our customers is when it all becomes worth it. People smile when they see what we have grown them and enjoy the freshness and flavor of the products. We are proud that we employ three people, pay them well and support them at work all we can. If we can spend the rest of our days on the farm with people who enjoy working here and growing food for people who enjoy it, we will have done something right.

The Buckle Farm: I meet Tony Russo first in 2004 working managing Allandale Farm in Brookline. I was struck by just how much produce went through the warehouse and his passion for the products. When I moved on from Allandale he continued to buy what crops I had. He has certainly shaped how we have grown our farm, Tony's in-depth knowledge of produce, and sales has nudged us to grow more of certain crops and begin to really specialize in the wholesale market.

Russo’s: Where was your first farm located? Was it organic?

The Buckle Farm: The Buckle Farm was first started in Dighton, Massachusetts (2011) and we were there for two and a half years. We started the process of being certified there but did not farm long enough for the three-year waiting period to obtain certification. The farm then moved up to Unity, Maine, where we were able to obtain certification on some of the ground here and some ground we had leased. We are happy to say that the entire farming operation is certified organic. We get certified by The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), great organization and a place we volunteer our time. Our farm is limited in size, so we lease a few other fields around our neighborhood, putting more and more ground into organic production, MOFGA has been a huge help in getting this land into organic production. We are also very happy to say that our farm is in the Forever Farm program in the state of Maine. This ensures a future for our farm, keeping it from development and kept in agricultural production for eternity. Along with the organic rules we have many to follow in the Forever Farm program. Yearly inspections and long-term planning to ensure the future of this wonderful piece of land. We would not choose to farm any other way.

See the below photos of Jim and Hannah from The Buckle Farm, their wonderful farm dog Lemmy and Jim, Hannah and Tony Russo with their freshly-grown sunflowers which we carry at Russo's!

And if you have read all the way to the bottom of this page, we have a special for you! Encourage three of your friends to sign up for this newsletter and use the below coupon for a Special Newsletter Discount of $5 off of a $50 purchase or $10 off of $100 purchase anytime Monday-Friday thru July 31, 2018 at Russo's! Cut out the below coupon with our special code (or show it on your phone) and present it to a Russo's cashier for your discount!

Happy Fourth of July! We love celebrating our nation's Independence Day with family and friends.

July is such a beautiful time of the year in New England and the harvesting of local crops has begun. We have already seen gorgeous Native Strawberries from Massachusetts and just after the holiday weekend, we will receive corn from one of our favorite farms in Connecticut!

We know you have been waiting...and we are happy to announce that Sunflowers and Native Plants such as Native Flowering Raspberry Bushes and Native Hydrangeas are here! Is there a better indication that summer has arrived?

When you head to the beach this holiday, remember to bring healthy, delicious summer snacks such as grapes and peaches. And when you are a guest at a cookout, bring a gift to the host! Corn and watermelon are always appreciated...and see our latest "Tony Tip" below for another suggestion!

Tony Russo writes a newsletter to our wholesale customers each week about conditions and prices of the fruit and vegetable markets around the United States. Here is what he wrote about our eastern markets and what you can expect:

"The eastern vegetable markets are, if anything, interesting. Prices and productavailability seemingly change with cloud cover. Green Bean prices are on the riseagain bringing the whole Bean family with them. Green Pepper prices are aboutthe same, along with Cucumbers, Eggplant, and tender and hard Squash. TheRound Tomato markets are going up. Prices for east coast Tomatoes willremain on the high side for a few more weeks. The eastern new crop of Potatoescontinues to be one of the highlights of the season. The domestic and Canadianstorage crops have been an excellent source of high quality, money savingresources for months. Sadly, the season is coming to an end...The eastern fruit markets are now very, very, close to home. In fact, they are home as the season’s first few weekends of Strawberries are being harvested. The Blueberry crop is underway in New Jersey with the very predictable flurry of interest and high prices for the first weeks of harvesting. The Peach crop in the Carolina’s could not be any better. Prices remain on the high-side for larger sizes and much more reasonable for smaller sized fruit."

Summertime is definitely here and that means we have peaches at Russo's! Our delicious peaches come from Titan Farms in South Carolina. Titan Farms is considered one of the best peach growers in the country - and it is located close to where Tony Russo picked peaches when he was a child. See our "Tony Tip" below on these special peaches.

Our garden department receives shipments of plants every day - and this week we are enjoying a robust arrival of perennials from around New England! Take a look at our store this weekend.

Have you ever wondered how to make sure your plants stay bright and cheerful all summer long? Tony Russo's latest Tony Tip shows how vibrant flowers (like our Dahlias from Michael's Greenhouse in Cheshire, Connecticut) grow even better when you do something called "deadheading." Deadheading? Is that something you do at a @Deadandcompany concert? No! Check out our latest Tony Tip on deadheading below. Also, did you know that you can cut flowers to put in a vase from your Dahlia plant? And it actually helps the plants grow! Learn about this method in another Tony Tip below.

And in case you missed them earlier this week, here are our Russo's Specials:

Native Strawberries are here at Russo's! Our Native Strawberries are grown on small farms in western Massachusetts. Enjoy this exciting time of the late spring/early summer season! And it is no coincidence that we have homemade shortcake biscuits on special this week. Just add strawberries to the shortcake biscuits and you have a fun, easy, delicious dessert!

Corn has arrived in time for Father's Day! We drive to a Georgia farm several times a week to pick up this delicious fresh corn! As the summer progresses, the corn will be coming from our local farmers.

Our latest "Tony Tip" on melons is below! We also have a "Tony Tip" on rhubarb. Rhubard may be intimidating but Tony Russo explains how to choose the best ones! So take a look at the bottom of this newsletter for your Tony Tips.

Here are our Specials thru June 17:

Organics

Russo's offers the freshest, highest quality and most affordable Organics available in the market.

Organic fresh crisp California broccoli $2.49 lb.

Organic Fresh jumbo white California cauliflower $2.98 each

Organic Premium quality apples $1.89 lb.

Organic local red leaf, green leaf and romaine lettuce $1.98 each

Produce

Fresh extra fancy fresh picked Carolina peaches $2.49 lb.

Fresh firm flavorful on the vine and hot house beefsteak tomatoes $1.98 lb.

We are thrilled to announce that Russo's will host Friends of Bees and Garden in the Woods on Saturday, June 9!

Friends of Bees of Watertown will answer questions and provide information about Bees from 10am-4pm

Garden in the Woods will show their pollinator kits (and accept orders for them!) and answer questions about Pollinator-Friendly Plants from Noon-3pm.

We have just received a gorgeous new shipment of Pollinator-Friendly Plants at Russo's which are available for sale. The plants include Red Twig Dogwood, Sweetspire, Strawberries, Flowering Raspberries, Native Hydrangea, Grasses, Native Geraniums, Flowering Trumpet Honeysuckle and more! These are all Pollinator-Friendly and Pesticide-Free Plants!

We hope you will enjoy taking a look at our products, photographs and a brief history of our family business. We have added some fun sections like “News at Russo’s,” which includes our favorite "Tony Tips" on how-to prepare popular and, perhaps, intimidating fruits and vegetables.

We have added a new online e-commerce section which will allow you to purchase select items at Russo’s and pick them up in our store (or our Russo's Tote which will ship to anywhere in the United States).